The good news: The House version of economic stimulus legislation contains over $153 billion in hard dollars for construction projects.
The bad news: Debate over this important legislation is already degenerating along the old political party lines, despite the best efforts of officials and staff of the incoming Obama administration to include something for everyone in the package.
Republicans in the Senate, led by Senate Appropriations Ranking Member Thad Cochran, sent a letter to Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye complaining that the Senate should not even take up the bill until it has been vetted by Obama administration OMB staff and OMB can report to the committee on the effects the proposed spending will actually have on the economy. Republicans are miffed that tax reduction is such a small portion of the House package. So the age old beliefs - Democrats that spending stimulates the economy; Republicans that tax relief stimulates the economy - will apparently define the debate over this legislation.
While House Appropriations Chairman David Obey is already talking about the potential need for additional stimulus spending even after the House measure passes, House Appropriations Ranking Member Jerry Lewis pans the measure as giving "little thought to real economic results, job creation or respect for the taxpayer," and Senator Tom Coburn complains that "75% to 80% of [the House measure] won't stimulate anything."
The other principal issue to be debated will be protectionism. Representatives Dan Lipinski and Donald Manzullo are complaining there should be more "buy American" requirements in the legislation, and they are joined by Steelworkers Union President Leo Gerard and Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing. At the same time, President Nancy McLernon of the Organization for International Investment points out that stricter requirements to use American produced materials for all this construction work would likely violate the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, to which the United States is a signatory.
As of Friday afternoon, the details of the House version of appropriations for construction spending looked like this:
INFRASTRUCTURE CONSTRUCTION DOLLARS (Billions)
Agriculture - Construction
$0.253
Agriculture - Rural Facilities Loans
$0.200
The bad news: Debate over this important legislation is already degenerating along the old political party lines, despite the best efforts of officials and staff of the incoming Obama administration to include something for everyone in the package.
Republicans in the Senate, led by Senate Appropriations Ranking Member Thad Cochran, sent a letter to Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye complaining that the Senate should not even take up the bill until it has been vetted by Obama administration OMB staff and OMB can report to the committee on the effects the proposed spending will actually have on the economy. Republicans are miffed that tax reduction is such a small portion of the House package. So the age old beliefs - Democrats that spending stimulates the economy; Republicans that tax relief stimulates the economy - will apparently define the debate over this legislation.
While House Appropriations Chairman David Obey is already talking about the potential need for additional stimulus spending even after the House measure passes, House Appropriations Ranking Member Jerry Lewis pans the measure as giving "little thought to real economic results, job creation or respect for the taxpayer," and Senator Tom Coburn complains that "75% to 80% of [the House measure] won't stimulate anything."
The other principal issue to be debated will be protectionism. Representatives Dan Lipinski and Donald Manzullo are complaining there should be more "buy American" requirements in the legislation, and they are joined by Steelworkers Union President Leo Gerard and Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing. At the same time, President Nancy McLernon of the Organization for International Investment points out that stricter requirements to use American produced materials for all this construction work would likely violate the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, to which the United States is a signatory.
As of Friday afternoon, the details of the House version of appropriations for construction spending looked like this:
INFRASTRUCTURE CONSTRUCTION DOLLARS (Billions)
Agriculture - Construction
$0.253
Agriculture - Rural Facilities Loans
$0.200
Subtotal Agriculture
$0.453
Airport Improvements
$3.000
Defense Environmental Cleanup
$0.300
Defense Facilities
$4.500
Defense Hospitals
$3.750
Defense Reserves and National Guard Facilities
$0.400
Defense Troop Housing
$1.550
Defense VA Medical
$0.950
Subtotal Defense
$11.450
Federal Buildings - Border Protection Modernization
$0.150
Federal Buildings - Border Protection Construction
$1.000
Federal Buildings - Bureau of Indian Affairs
$0.500
Federal Buildings - Commerce Department Science Research
$0.300
Federal Buildings - Fish and Wildlife
$0.300
Federal Buildings - Forest Service Construction
$0.650
Federal Buildings - GSA Energy Conservation
$6.000
Federal Buildings - Indian Health Service
$0.550
Federal Buildings - NASA Hurricane Repairs
$0.050
Federal Buildings - National Mall
$0.200
Federal Buildings - National Parks
$1.700
Federal Buildings - NSF Construction and Equipment
$0.400
Federal Buildings - NSF University Repair Grants
$0.200
Federal Buildings - Other
$0.700
Federal Buildings - Smithsonian
$0.150
Federal Buildings - U. S. Geological Survey
$0.200
Subtotal Federal Buildings
$13.050
Health - Centers for Disease Control Modernization
$0.462
Health - Community Health Center Construction
$0.500
Health - Community Health Center Modernization
$1.000
Health - NIH Central Campus Modernization
$0.500
Health - NIH University Research Construction and Renovation
$1.500
Health - Public Health Service Headquarters Construction
$0.088
Subtotal Health
$4.050
Highway Federal Aid
$30.000
Local Transit Capital
$6.000
Local Transit Investment
$1.000
Local Transit Rail
$2.000
Subtotal Transit
$9.000
Passenger Rail
$1.100
Power - Bonneville Power Administration
$3.250
Power - Carbon Capture And Sequestration Demonstrations
$2.400
Power - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Grants
$8.400
Power - Home Weatherization Assistance
$6.200
Power - Renewable Energy Loan Guarantees
$8.000
Power - Smart Grid Construction
$4.500
Power - Western Area Power Administration
$3.250
Subtotal Power
$36.000
Public Housing Capital
$5.000
Public Housing Community Block Grants
$1.000
Public Housing Lead Paint Remediation
$0.100
Public Housing Native American
$0.500
Public Housing Neighborhood Stabilization
$4.190
Public Housing Section 8 and Elderly
$2.500
Subtotal Public Housing
$13.290
School Federal Impact Aid
$0.100
School Modernization - College
$6.000
School Modernization - K-12
$14.000
Subtotal Schools
$20.100
Water and Environment - Brownfields Cleanup
$0.100
Water and Environment - Drinking Water Construction
$0.500
Water and Environment- Corps of Engineers Construction
$2.000
Water and Environment - EPA Clean Water Construction
$6.000
Water and Environment - EPA Drinking Water Construction
$2.000
Water and Environment - EPA Leaking Underground Tanks
$0.200
Water and Environment - EPA Superfund
$0.800
Water and Environment - Mexican Boundary Water Projects
$0.224
Subtotal Water and Environment
$11.824
TOTAL CONSTRUCTION
$153.317
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